Bastrop discrimination camp.

1. http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/Olive/Tablet/AustinAmericanStatesman/SharedArticle.aspx?href=AAS%2F2013%2F10%2F29&id=Ar00904
2. Category: Racial Discrimination
3. Level of problem: Local
4. The article concerns: Bastrop School District Teachers are required to take lessons to prevent discrimination against their students.
5. Why is this important or how does it affect individuals/family?
       -- The initial problem is affecting students in a negative way and Bastrop is trying to correct this problem by forcing teachers to take lessons on discrimination.
6. What is your viewpoint on the problem/issue?
       -- I feel that some small towns in Texas are still living in the dark ages regarding civil rights and segregation. I've come across people already in my lifetime that are from small towns or suburbs in Texas and have never seen or interacted with a black person before. They don't view them as equals and put them down verbally to their face and behind their backs. Fortunately, I come from central Houston where my neighbors are from all sorts different cultures, religions, and races. Bastrop, along with other small towns in Texas, need to get with the times. I think that the mandatory sessions that these teachers have to take is going to make a difference. Those people will be able to know how to suppress their own thoughts and act professionally when it comes to discrimination. Currently, they are setting examples for their students that it is okay to treat people differently just because of their color of skin. Children are already naturally cruel, especially when it comes to attractiveness, intelligence, and status. As teachers, they do not need to add or enforce racial inequality into that mix. The civil rights movement was supposed to have stopped this sort of behavior a long time ago and most of our country has developed past it, but small towns, like Bastrop, seem to exclude themselves from that development and they do not benefit from it in any way. I believe people need to get out of their comfort zone and experience life for themselves, including the teachers that are setting these examples. Maybe then they will understand that race is not an issue and should not be considered when judging a person's character, but rather the person inside.